SMU fans cheer on the Mustangs before the SMU Mustangs vs. the Texas A&M Aggies NCAA college football game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Saturday, September 15, 2012. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

UNIVERSITY PARK — At SMU’s almost full Ford Stadium, fans celebrated their new quarterback’s breakout game.

But these were fans from Texas A&M, not SMU, and their cheers were for Johnny Manziel, not Garrett Gilbert.

In only the second start of his career, Manziel put on a remarkable show Saturday afternoon. He accounted for 418 yards of total offense and six touchdowns in a 48-3 victory before a crowd of 32,016, about half of them Aggies.

The redshirt freshman beat the Mustangs with his arm, completing 20 of 36 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns. And he beat them with his feet, rushing for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

The Aggies hung 605 yards on the Mustangs. Manziel set A&M freshman records for passing yards, touchdowns and total offense.

Of his many big plays, one that epitomized the Mustangs’ plight came on third-and-1 late in the second quarter.

Seemingly locked in the grasp of SMU linebacker Taylor Reed, Manziel somehow spun out of the tackle. He ran toward the left sideline, jumped off one foot and threw over a defender while falling back. The ball landed in Mike Evans’ hands for a 17-yard gain.

That kept alive a drive that ended with Manziel throwing on the run to Uzoma Nwachukwu. The 26-yard touchdown extended A&M’s lead to 20-0 with 1:03 left before halftime.

“Johnny, of course, is ‘Captain Amazing’ back there,” Nwachukwu said. “No matter what kind of pressure he [is under], he always finds a way to get out of it. ‘Johnny Football, Captain Amazing.’ … I’m pretty sure, next week, we’ll have another one for him. It’s a growing legend.”

Manziel impressed in his debut last week. He threw 173 yards and rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown. But Florida neutralized him in the second half and rallied to win, 20-17.

The opposite happened against SMU. Both offenses struggled early. The game was scoreless until 8:38 left in the second quarter, when Manziel hit Ryan Swope for a 29-yard touchdown.

The Mustangs failed to take advantage of their strong defensive performance through much of the first half.

The offense, three-of-18 on third down, kept putting the defense back on the field. And SMU tired of chasing Manziel all over the field.

“If the offense had answered the call in the first 15, 17 minutes, it might have been a little different game,” SMU coach June Jones said. “I don’t think their quarterback would have played with as much confidence because he was a little bit not himself early. But we just could never get going on offense.”

The Aggies’ strong front four applied relentless pressure, and the secondary disguised their coverage schemes, which threw Gilbert off.

The Mustangs gained only 309 yards. Gilbert completed only 23 of 49 passes for 203 yards. He was intercepted once. He was sacked four times, twice by Rowlett’s Damontre Moore, who had three against Florida.

“Give credit to their defensive line for being able to put some pressure on us,” Gilbert said. “They were also able to send some blitzes, more than we were able to pick up. They changed up coverages quite a bit, kind of kept us off balance, and we weren’t able to get into a rhythm.”

Zach Line rushed for 104 yards on 16 carries, but it wasn’t nearly enough with the passing game on mute.

Evans, another first-year player for the Aggies, had six receptions for 123 yards. Swope had five catches for 70 yards and a score. But it was Manziel who stole the show.

“He’s improving,” said Kevin Sumlin, who got his first win as Aggies coach. “He made plays with his feet, but he also scrambled and kept his eyes down field instead of just taking off and running.”

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